Just in time for
Arbor Day, the Town of Chesterton has received its Indiana Tree City USA
designation.

For the 18th
consecutive year.

So Street
Commissioner John Schnadenberg reported at Monday nightís Town Council
meeting.

So whatís going on,
tree-wise, in town?

Begin with the
councilís proclamation on Monday, that the week of April 21-27 shall be
celebrated as Urban Forestry Days in Chesterton and Saturday, April 26, as
Arbor Day.

As always, Arbor
Day in town coincides with Rebuilding Together Duneland--on the last
Saturday in April--but this year the latter is getting into the spirit of
the former, with a community project at Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve,
where fully 380 new trees will be planted, Watershed Conservancy Executive
Director Katie Rizer told the council on Monday.

Those new trees
will be replacing ones lost to the emerald ash borer, Rizer said.

An official Arbor
Day ceremony has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, April 26, at the
trellis overlook in the Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve.

Meanwhile, the Tree
Committee is planning a busy year, as Pat Carlisle and Gina Darnell also
announced on Monday. A total of 49 new trees will be planted in town in
2014, at a cost of around $6,000: with $2,000 already in the Tree Fund,
$2,000 from a grant awarded by Indiana-American Water Company, and $2,000 in
cost-share funds from residents.

Of those 49 new
trees, 16 will be planted along South Fifth Street, in addition to
the 20 which NIPSCO is planting at its own expense to replace those removed
last fall during its infrastructure upgrade program. Those 36 trees will
leaf out South Fifth Street between Union Ave. and 1100N.

Finally, the Tree
Committee will be offering--free, on a first-come, first-served basis--400
seedlings on the opening day of this year